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| - The Nasdaq and S&P 500 finished at fresh records Thursday following a choppy session as online dating platform Bumble soared in its market debut. Fresh data on stubbornly high joblessness boosted the odds for stimulus spending. New applications for US unemployment benefits fell slightly last week, but remained an exceptionally high level. The jobless claims data were "worse than expected, but all that means in the stock market's mind is that it will invite more stimulus," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index led the market, winning 0.4 percent to finish the day at 14,025.77, notching a fresh record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped less than 0.1 percent to 31,430.30, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.2 percent, slightly higher than its prior all time high last week. Bumble enjoyed a buoyant launch on the Nasdaq, winning 63.5 percent after raising $2.2 billion in an initial public offering. Uber Technologies fell 4.0 percent as it reported another hefty loss in the final three months of 2020, though the company's food delivery operations partly offset the hit. The loss of $968 million was narrowed slightly from $1.1 billion in the same period a year earlier. Kraft Heinz surged 4.9 percent as it announced the sale of its nuts business to Hormel Foods for $3.4 billion. Hormel fell 3.3 percent. jmb/hs
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